An integrative approach to improve the management of snakebite envenoming in Latin America

Snakebite envenoming exerts a heavy toll in Latin America. Over decades, the region has undertaken relevant efforts to confront this neglected tropical disease through the production and distribution of antivenoms and training of public health staff in the diagnosis and management of envenoming, among other fields. Following up some regional projects carried out under the auspices of JICA, CYTED and the OAS, PANAFTOSA/PAHO established the Latin American Network of Public Antivenom Manufacturing Laboratories (RELAPA, Spanish acronym). RELAPA has implemented several initiatives to improve the regional landscape of antivenom manufacture and quality control and initiated activities to improve epidemiological health surveillance with the focal points in charge of snakebite envenoming at the ministries of health in the region, consolidating these concerted regional efforts in a manner fully aligned with the WHO strategy for the prevention and control of snakebite envenoming. The present proposal aims to foster a series of actions and to consolidate past and future efforts with the goal of strengthening RELAPA as regional network reference and platform for technical cooperation, by improving access to antivenoms, strengthening production and distribution capacities, access and improving clinical diagnosis and envenoming treatment, and the national epidemiological health surveillance programs in the region.